FLASH
Shkruar nga Pamfleti
Among the sad farewells, the great losses of the performing arts, is undoubtedly the premature death of the distinguished artist Naim Frashëri. He passed away on February 18, 1975. It was a blow to the performing arts, above all, a potent artist who had dominated the stage with leading roles in world and national dramaturgy for 20 consecutive years, especially with Shakespeare's Hamlet. Today we pay homage to this great name of the Albanian theater, on the anniversary of his passing.
"At night, at dawn on February 18, Naimi, worried and with a serious health condition that he did not openly show, slept alone. He got up several times because he had worries and pain," his sister said. - In the morning, he did not get up to go to work, at the Institute. Violeta, his wife, called out to him: 'Get up, Naimi, it's time!' When she approached him, she saw with horror how he had gathered himself and had clenched his hands with an extraordinary effort. He showed no signs of life. He died from a strong contraction, without anyone worrying."
It was February 18, 1975. It was cold outside and a light, chilling wind was blowing. On February 19, the newspaper “Zëri i Popullit” published the obituary of his death. (A short time later, a long article about him was also published, which, among other things, included this sentence: “Be silent, Lilliputians, before the most brilliant voice and figure of Art, Naimin Frasheri”!).
A state commission was established to organize the funeral ceremonies. Tributes were paid in the lobby of the Executive Committee from 9:30 to 10:00. The procession to the cemetery took place at 10:00. Naim Frashëri's funeral was a manifestation of the people, who flocked to the doors of the Executive Committee to pay homage and mourn his passing…!
Along the way, where the funeral procession passed, followed by thousands and thousands of citizens, workers from various companies who had left work and were escorting the artist were seen on the side of the boulevard. The farewell speech was given by Minister Thoma Deljana. The funeral was accompanied by a funeral march and three volleys of gunfire from a group of riflemen…! A great pain and loss for art! But, in a way, the “People’s Artist” was “killed”, he died prematurely. And why?
The beginning of the 70s was terrible for those who experienced that time at the National Theater. A suffocating climate was created, a bad spirit among the actors, which affected not only the level of art, but also the further progress of the institution. Naim Frashëri was one of the victims, the "silent heroes" of this war.
In 1970 he had achieved everything, the high titles, "People's Artist", "Hero of Socialist Labor", deputy, Party secretary of the National Theater, but, again, he was not the darling of the regime. He was an artist of great stature and unparalleled courage. He made no compromises. Mediocre people wanted to "turn his nose down" because they could not stand his brilliance. For this they slandered him, because they also had support from "above".
There were two things you could find trouble for in that regime, for agitation and propaganda and for moral issues. For the first, they couldn't catch Naim, while for the second, they took advantage of his stage talent, his many performances and partners on stage, the evil that people without morals fed him. They slandered him until they killed him spiritually. He asked to resign from the theater troupe, to go to the Higher Institute of Arts, as a lecturer. He had his life tied to the stage of the National Theater, but the scoundrels forced him.
Naim Frashëri had openly criticized the poor level of the plays that were being staged in the theater, the amateurish engagement of some actors and political misuse. “I think,” wrote Naim, “that the Central Theater should not turn into a laboratory for weak works. This work should be done outside the theater.” In the 1960s, after the removal of the foreign repertoire, a series of schematic works were staged at the National Theater, so much so that they took their breath away. To be highlighted, Fadil Paçrami's works came one after the other, in every season. Mediocrity!
The clash with Paçram was strong, but Naimi was brave and brave. When Paçram told Naimi: “It would be better if you retired”, he said: “You better retire, because you have reached the age, you have also become a grandfather”! He was brave. At the National Theater, when the class struggle inspired by the dictator Enver Hoxha intensified, Naimi stood up to Ilia Shyti, when they wanted to expel him, because of his brother's escape!
Naimi also kept the reputation of talented actors Sandër Prosi and Prokop Mima intact, when they started to slander him for his "unclear past", he became a shield for the young actor Bujar Lako, when they wanted to remove him "for biographical reasons", he accompanied the young actors Bexhet Nelku, Robert Ndrenika, Timo Flloko, when the "shadows" of biographical analysis fell on them. Naimi was and remained a great man, despite his party affiliation.
From the defense that Naimi gave to the "declassed", to those who had "spots on their biographies", from his manliness in meetings, when he addressed even important delegates of the Party, we are convinced that he was an honest man, the embodiment of the best social virtues. His personality was not determined by political beliefs.
Drita Pelinku, the prominent actress, partner in several roles, wrote about him: "He left the Theater before the play 'The Fisherman's Family'. This departure cut Naimi's arms. The departure killed him. When he came to play 'The Fisherman's Family' at the end, for recording on Television, he was a silent man, who had a drama. He could not live without the stage..."!
While Ilia Shyti said: "The incompetent found the opportunity to engage in gossip, but it was also the pride of the capable, the professional ambitions, that appeared in the theater, in one form or another". While Agim Zajmi concludes: "After numerous party meetings, where he was attacked by 'devout communists' and where his entire creativity was questioned, Naimi became worried. It was a great sorrow".
"The theater at that time became very difficult," recalls Pirro Mani. "Naimi left, and I left a year after him. Above the theater stood the Executive Committee, the Ministry of Education and Culture, the Ministry of the Interior...! It was a suffocating atmosphere...! In this difficult ideological and spiritual state, with a great deal of gossip, Naimi saw fit to leave. He was a psychic comrade. He left at the peak of artistic maturity, the theater needed such artists."
Naimi did his job as a teacher with great passion, sacrificing everything from his experience as an actor. Naimi smoked a lot of cigarettes, even cheap cigarettes…! His fingers were yellow from nicotine. His lungs were in pieces and his cough constantly bothered him.
"In recent years, Naim was constantly in pain," recalls his sister Sofo. From time to time, he would suffer from pancreatic crises. First, our mother, whom he loved very much, died. 'I think I have pancreatitis too,' he would say. And in fact, he died of this disease, acute pancreatitis, after four months. He died at home, they didn't even know about it."
“Naim died poor,” said director Esat Oktrova, “both as a person and as an actor, he was like a silent volcano.” The artist who dedicated his life to theater, who embodied over 100 roles on stage and screen, for 35 years, finally experienced his own personal drama, with a tragic ending.
Naim Frashëri remains one of our most prominent stage actors, awarded, in addition to the titles "People's Artist" and "Hero of Socialist Labor", also with the Republic Prize, Class I, with the high title "Honor of the Nation" and most recently with the title "Honorary Citizen" of Përmet./Memorie.al
Lini një Përgjigje